Thread by @barandbench

Supreme Court Judge, Justice Deepak Gupta begins delivering his lecture on "Democracy and Dissent" in an event organised by the Supreme Cour Bar Association.

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Justice Gupta says, "I will also add Dissent in Judiciary... To have a strong democracy, a fearless judiciary is important"

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Justice Gupta: Just because you hold a contrarian view, does not mean you are anti-national or disrespect the country. You may disagree with the government, may not go against the country. There is a difference between the country and its government

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Justice Gupta says, it is disturbing to note that dissent is being treated as "anti national"; adds that he disapproves of various Bar associations passing resolutions refusing to represent certain persons accused of certain charges, says this is against legal ethics.

Justice Gupta quotes Justice Chandrachud's recent lecture.

"The blanket labelling of dissent as anti national or anti democratic strikes at the heart of the commitment to protect Constitunal values"

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Justice Gupta: Majoritarianism is the antithesis of democracy.

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Justice Gupta says, "If we quell dissent, it has a chilling effect on free speech", while shining light on the role of the Higher Judiciary in protecting dissent. Justice Gupta quotes from the Shreya Singal case.

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Governments don't have the right to suppress protests or dissent if the protests are peaceful, Justice Gupta says

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Justice Gupta: There can be no rule of law without a judiciary who is independent and fearless.

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In fast changing times, the words in the statutes and Constitutions have to be given meaning according to the changing times, Justice Deepak Gupta

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Justice Gupta: There are some judgments, where i.may disagree but that is my opinion as an individual. When I'm sitting in a Division Bench, I'm bound by the judgment given by the bench, and that is now it should be.

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Speaking on judicial discipline and dissent, Justice Gupta says that not every case needs to be referred to a larger Bench; adds that judicial dissent, however, is also very important in some crucial cases.

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Justice Gupta says that if there is a case where he must give a dissenting opinion, he would.

Justice Gupta goes on to cite landmark judicial dissents such as the US case on slavery which had upheld slavery as Constitutional but one Judge had dissented

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AK Gopalan case and the dissent of Justice Fazal Ali in the same cited by Justice Gupta..

He also adds that the dissent of Justice Subba Rao in Kharak Singh case on privacy and fundamental rights was "say ahead of its time"

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Justice Gupta also refers to Justice DY Chandrachud's dissent in #Aadhar case and Justice Indu Malhotra's dissent in #Sabarimala as two of the recent "very important" dissents. He adds that he will not comment further on the same as they're subject to judicial scrutiny.

Justice Gupta goes to recall the "most important dissent" in our country, Justice HR Khanna's dissent in the ADM Jabalpur case.

He says Justice Khanna is known to have told his sister that he knew he would not be appointed CJI on account of the judgment he had given

Justice Gupta says that right to dissent includes right to criticize and this includes judiciary "which is nit above criticism".

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Justice Gupta: No institution is above criticism, whether it is judiciary it armed forces. There is no holy cow as far as dissent is concerned.

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Justice Gupta concludes his lecture by quoting Rabindranath Tagore's poem "Let my country awake"

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"Disturbing to note that dissent is being treated as anti-national", Justice Deepak Gupta speaks on Democracy and Dissent [LIVE UPDATES]

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"Majoritarianism is the anti-thesis of Democracy", Justice Deepak Gupta lecture on Democracy and Dissent

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